Shoulder hook cradle for telephone handsets



July 12, 1949. ORENNEKER -2,475,221

SHOULDER HOOK CRADLE FOR TELEPHONE HANDSETS Filed June 9, 1945 VINVENTOR. H6776 Hfie/weA er ATTORNEY.

Patented July 12, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHQU DER 11 v C E OTE E HON HANDS Herman H. Renneker, San Diego, Calif. l lll afifl un a 1s ria o. 5.9.8.573 1 Claim. (01. 1 79-15?) My invention relates to ashoulder hook cradle for a el ph n hand s t an th Qb e o m inventionare:

First, to provide a device for holding a telephone hand set upon theshoulder of the telephone user so that the proper portions thereof areheld in correct operative positions relative to the ear and mouth of theuser without manual support;

Second, to provide such a device with means rendering the device easilyadjustable to the individual needs of a particular user, this adjustmentmeans allowing the adjustment of the hand set on the cradle so that thehand set will naturally assume a position allowing the normal usethereof, with the head pf the use held Wmfortably erect;

Third, to provide such a device in an aesthetically designed form,extremely light in weight, not bulky or cumbersome, and comfortable touse;

Fourth, to provide such a device which may be easily attached to a handset and used or not used as desired, the attached device entailing noinconvenience in using the hand set without employing the shoulder hook.

Fifth, to provide such a device in a form which is inexpensive andpracticable to manufacture, convenient and simple to use, and sturdy andenduring in service.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, myinvention consists of certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafterlarly set forth in the appended claim, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon whichform a part of this application in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention; Fig. 2 is a sideelevational view of my invention; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary crosssectional view taken on a line 33 in Fig. 1 to show the means for makingthe device adjustable and generally to facilitate the illustration.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar or identical parts andportions throughout the views of the drawings.

The body'portion I, hook portion 2, pad 3, cradle 4, and cradle securingscrew 5 constitute the principal parts and portions of my invention.

My invention is designed for combination with a standard hand settelephone and adapted for adjustable securement to the tubular spacermember of the set between the mouthpiece and described in detail andparticu- 2 the earpiece which spacer member is usually of reasonablyconstant cross section over a COIlSid'. able ngt h r of- The y rtio s aapted to be p a ed top of the shoulder of the telephone user and. a beer ly rec ng lar in shape w h a longitudin y disp sed t ou h. it on theup e fac cf the od po tion.- Qn the und rside of e b d n iqn l prov d doneitud nal channe l x end n thro gh u th maj r portion o he body port nand, communit n w t th t o h a th ough a o is of a len th. ne rly equato the channel lb.

ne end o he h tly nQ tinn tap s into an int era u v d de end ng hee s prtion 2 and. the nsid o th s hook Port on a pad 3 9 sponge rubber, feltor other material is provided to improve the gripping action of the hookon the clothing of the user of the telephone.

The cradle 4 is of curved U-shape with a part thereof shaped to conformwith and fit into the trough Ia on the upper surface of the body portionI. The inner concave surface of the cradle is shaped to conform with thetubular spacer member between the mouthpiece and the earpiece of a handset which is placed therein. The hand set is secured to the cradle bythe strap yoke 4a which is removably' attached to the yoke by means ofscrews 4?) and 40. This yoke la holds said tubular member rigidly withinthe cradle.

The set screw 5 is threaded into the cradle 4 through the slot le in thesaid body portion and the head of the screw 5 contacts the body portionwithin the channel I a, thus allowing the longitudinal adjustment of thecradle 4 relative to the body portion l' and firmly attaching the cradlein a predetermined position adapted to the particular needs of the user,the cradle being disposed at an angle relative to the body portion sothat the hand set is inclined towards the head of the user,

In using my invention, the hand set with the device attached thereto isplaced so that the undersurface of the body portion l rests on top ofthe shoulder, near the neck, of the user with the hook portion 2depending behind the shoulder. The pad 3 helps to prevent the devicefrom slipping and mouthpiece and earpiece of the hand set will be heldin proper position to allow normal use of the telephone without manualsupport, the hands of the user being left free for other work.

It will be seen that a shoulder-supported cradle structure embodying thepresent invention can be used easily and conveniently for supporting astandard telephone hand set adjacent either the left or right side ofthe users head. In order to adapt the structure for use at either theright or left side of the users head, the screw may be removed orloosened and the cradle 4 reversed or turned through 180 with respect tothe body portion I. In either of its selected positions, the cradlestructure is in a plane substantially transverse to the body portion,and a line bisecting the angle between the legs of the U of the seat inthe cradle portion is at such an inclination to the vertical that thehand set positioned in the seat is inclined upwardly and inwardly fromthe users shoulder toward the users head with the ends of the hand setbeing disposed respectively adjacent the users mouth and ear.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combinationand arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited tothis particular construction, combination and arrangement but desire toinclude in the scope of my invention the construction, combination andarrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A shoulder-supported cradle structure for standard telephone hand sets,comprising a onepiece shoulder-engaging rest member having asubstantially fiat cradle supporting portion, the

underside ofwhich is adapted to rest upon and extend crosswise withrespect to the crest of the shoulder of a user, said flat portionterminating at one end in an integral, downwardly curved hook portion,adapted to embrace an area of a users shoulder adjacent the crest, acradle member mounted on the upper face of said flat portion forreceiving a telephone hand set, said cradle member having a, generallyU-shaped seat in a plane substantially transverse to said fiat portionso that a standard hand set positioned in said seat will also extendgenerally crosswise with respect to the users shoulder, a line bisectingthe angle between the legs of the U of said seat being at an inclinationto the vertical and to the horizontal when said structure is in use,whereby the seat holds the hand set inclined upwardly and inwardly fromthe shoulder toward the head of the user with the ends of the hand setdisposed respectively adjacent the users mouth and ear, and means foradjustably mounting said cradle member on said flat portion comprising alongitudinally extending guide trough in the upper face of said fiatportion, a projecting shoulder on said cradle member adapted to slidablyengage said trough, a longitudinally extending slot in the base of saidtrough and an adjustable stud adapted to be inserted into said cradlethrough said slot for retaining said cradle in adjusted position withrespect to said flat portion.

HERMAN H. RENNEKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,336,929 Simpson Apr. 13, 19201,939,449 Horn Dec. 12, 1933 2,294,989 Keely Sept. 3, 1942 2,348,138Latus et a1 May 2, 1944

